A long time ago, years perhaps, toilet paper in Cuba ceased being a necessity and become a luxury for Cuban women. Someone took note of this and began producing a type called “Calidad Popular” (People’s Quality); that was the slogan printed on the wrapper.
Read MoreRicardo Alarcon, president of Cuba’s National Assembly of Popular Power, in a televised excerpt from the recent National Party Conference gave us new data on the need for greater freedom of information.
Read MoreAs I was passing by one of the corners at the Cuatro Caminos farmers market, a crowd caused me to stop for a moment. I wanted to try and see if they were having another caserolazo (pots and pans protest) over the food shortages and high prices there.
Read MoreDouble standards are almost an inherent condition of Cuban life. The visceral fear of the truth, as well as our getting used to things seeming what they aren’t, have become practices used by many people to avoid the classic social stigmas of “standing out” or “asking for trouble.”
Read MoreSome are laughable, others pathetic. I’m speaking about those TV broadcasts of the Cuban Baseball League in which sports commentators focus their attention on promoting emerging economic and social development in provinces outside of the capital.
Read MoreMerely inviting someone over for lunch out of gratitude or on the occasion of some celebration presents a dilemma for most Cuban families. You have to give yourself several days to find everything you want to prepare, not to mention coming up with the money – and in both currencies.
Read MoreSeveral days ago, another writer with Havana Times, Elio Delgado Legon, saw fit to comment on my article “Cuba’s Chemically Aged Kids.” I decided to use his argument as a springboard and write this response, which touches on only a few aspects of the extensive dossier on the Cuban government’s responsibility for the situation we Cubans are suffering today.
Read MoreObtaining food has become a personal battle for me. Every week it’s a struggle to find one or another eatable that’s in short supply. That’s how the month goes by. Last week it was eggs.
Read MoreWhen I discovered that the term “revolution” was also applicable to other fields outside of politics, such as machinery, I was about nine years old. Prior to that, I’d been indoctrinated by my parents to learn to see the world through notions such as dialectical materialism, atheism and “revolutionary principles.”
Read MoreAs part of my fifth year major in art history, I took the course “Workshop on Fine Arts Criticism,” taught by specialist Adelaida de Juan. In that class, we attended three major art exhibitions last year.
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